Soul Trouble
by SashaMorwood
Summary: Duke/OC. Abigail returns to Haven after almost seven years in Boston. Now the Troubles are back and some old friends aren't too pleased about her return. (edit later)
1. Return of Colton

Abigail Colton had been standing at the docks for almost ten minutes waiting for an old friend to arrive when a young man came sauntering past her.  
Abigail couldn't help but stare at him as he walked by, and when he hopped into the boat beside her, she called to him, "I'm sorry, but do I know you from somewhere?"  
He looked up at her with one eye closed, blinded by the morning sun, and grinned, "That is without a doubt the worst pick-up line I think I've ever heard. I'm afraid you're going to have to do much better."

She laughed, "Please, I am _not _trying anything, I'm being serious."  
He sighed, "And now you've hurt my feelings, you're really not very good at this are you?"  
Abigail rolled her eyes as the man climbed up to the clocks beside her and stretched out his hand, "Duke Crocker, nice to meet you."  
The girl before him froze for a second before shaking his hand in return, "Lovely to meet you Duke, I'm –"  
"Well, well, well, little Abby Crocker!"  
Abigail turned to see Chief Nathan Wuornos jogging along the boardwalk to where she stood. She laughed and was engulfed in a bear-like hug.  
"Nathan! It's about time you got here!"

"Sorry," he apologised, "got caught up in a case."  
He pointed a finger at her, "Speaking of which, you haven't met Audrey yet, have you?"  
Abigail shook her head.  
"Great, we're having a little get-together down at the Gull and, if you're not too busy unpacking, we'd be happy to have you down for a drink."  
Abigail smiled and agreed.  
Whilst their conversation continued, Duke stared at the girl in front of him, then glanced back and forth between her and Nathan before something finally clicked in his memory.  
"Abigail?" The look on his face was that of utter bewilderment as she turned and smiled at him, "Sure took you long enough Crocker."  
He grinned spitefully, "My apologies, it's just that you've been gone so long, I had trouble remembering who you were."  
She glared at him but ignored the comment, instead she turned to Nathan, "Shall we go?"  
He nodded, "By all means." and turned to walk back to the boardwalk.  
Abigail turned to Duke, "It was nice seeing you again."  
He ignored her comment so she laughed and shook her head, "I'll see you around Crocker."


	2. Playing House

By the time Abigail had reached the car, Nathan had the passenger-side door opened and was waiting for her.  
He frowned, "You alright?"  
Abigail smiled, "Of course, why wouldn't I be?"  
He didn't get time to answer before she hopped into the car and slammed the door shut.  
Nathan sighed, "This is going to be a long day," He too got into the car and drove off.

A few minutes later, they had passed the police station and were heading to a newly built house on the edge of a dirt road just twenty minutes away from the docks.  
"So, this is the new house, huh?" inquired Nathan, "Looks nice."  
Abigail nodded, "Yeah, I thought I may as well splash out on a nice house if I'm planning on staying here."  
He raised an eyebrow, "So, you really are staying then?"  
She looked at him, "Yep, well, if I can get a job that is. Vince and Dave still work at the Herald right? I suppose I could take a drive down later and see if they need any help running the newspaper."  
Nathan rubbed his jaw and nodded slowly, "And what about Duke?"  
Abigail folded her arms and glared at Nathan, "What about him?"  
He shrugged, "Well, you're probably going to be seeing him a lot more often now around town. I just want to know if it's going to cause a problem. After all, I am the Sheriff and domestics between you and Duke will just waste paper."  
Abigail tilted her head back and laughed, "You're kidding, right? I'm not going anywhere near him if I can help it."

Nathan looked at her. "What?" she questioned him.  
"You still haven't told him why you left, have you?"  
"He doesn't need to know. Let's just leave it at that." she barked as she climbed the crooked steps leading up to the house.  
Nathan sighed, "Alright, but he's going to find out someday. Wouldn't it be better if you were the one to tell him?"  
Abigail ignored his question and opened the front door to the house.  
The packed cardboard boxes were already lying on the hall floor, so she began unpacking.  
Returning to Haven was going to be more difficult than she first thought.


	3. Partner Parker

Four hours after having opened the first box, Abigail's house was slowly but surely becoming a hospitable environment – or a 'home' if you wanted to call it that – and she now had time to get dressed for Nathan's "get together".

Most of her clothes were still packed away so she decided to go for the casual look and just throw on her plain navy t-shirt, a chequered shirt over the top of that, and her beloved leather jacket.  
Just as she had finished applying a small amount of mascara, the doorbell rang.  
Seeing as she had to sell her treasured Chevy Impala just to acquire enough money to get to Haven, Nathan had offered to drive her to the Gull.

Abigail opened the door, "C'mon in Nathan, I'll just get my phone. Nice suit by the way."  
He laughed softly, "I didn't have time to get changed out of my work clothes."  
He stood quietly in the hall as she went and got her mobile from the kitchen counter. "House is looking good I see."  
"Took long enough to do and I still have all my clothes to unpack...I also need to buy some furniture."  
Nathan laughed as he realised that Abigail had neither tables, nor chairs in her living room and kitchen. He assumed she didn't have a bed either, "Where are you going to sleep?"  
She shrugged, "I brought a sleeping bag and a box of pillows. You ready to go?"  
He chuckled, "Yeah, we're meeting Audrey down there."

Whilst in the car, Abigail decided to make some polite chat to pass the time, "So, tell me some more about Audrey. I wanna know who's been keeping my buddy safe for this long."  
He smiled, "Audrey, well, she's something different. The history's a little complicated but you'll no doubt find out sooner or later. I'm not really sure I'd be the best person to try and explain it but she came here not long after you left; been my partner since day one."  
Abigail watched him intently as he spoke, "And falling in love with her, how long did that take?"  
Nathan almost crashed the car at her question, "What do you mean?"  
She laughed, "I'm not sure how much clearer I can be with that statement. It's pretty obvious, I mean, you look like a little puppy-dog when you talk about her; all sparkly-eyed and fluffy."  
"Fluffy?" he scoffed.

Nathan was quiet for a minute of two more before he spoke again, "When the Troubles came the last time, we found out that Audrey's Trouble was that, well, she was immune to the Troubles."  
Silence fell for a few seconds more until he turned to Abigail and smiled, "I could feel her, Abby. For the first time, I could actually _feel _someone..."

Abigail certainly had not expected him to tell her that. Before she could inquire more, however, Nathan had pulled the car outside the Gull and removed the key from the ignition before getting out. He glanced through the door and cursed, "Dammit."  
"What?" asked Abigail.  
Nathan sighed, "Don't get mad, okay? Duke's inside, I forgot his shift started at eight."  
Abigail stared, "Shift? He works at the Gull? Since when?"  
Nathan shrugged, "He kind of owns it now..."

Abigail sat there with a shocked expression on her face whilst Nathan walked in ahead of her. She shook herself, what was she getting so worked up about?  
Duke was her friend, right?  
_He was a bit more than that, remember?_ said an annoying little voice inside her head, but thankfully it was quiet enough for her to block out –at least for now.  
The bell on the front door chimed as she entered. She ignored the man working at the bar and headed towards Nathan who was standing by who Abigail assumed to be Audrey Parker.  
She outstretched her hand, "Hi, Audrey, right? I'm Abigail, it's nice to meet you."  
The blonde returned her shake and smiled, "Hey, Nathan's told me a lot about you. Welcome back."  
Abigail thanked her and they all went to take a seat at the far end of the restaurant.  
As she did so, she could feel eyes piercing the back of her skull.  
She could feel Duke's eyes on her, even now, but she composed herself and acted as though nothing was wrong.  
Because it wasn't...at least, not yet.


	4. The Grey Gull's Broken

When everyone was seated –and Abigail had chosen the chair facing away from the bar- Nathan decided to order drinks. They all gave their orders to him –Whiskey on the rocks for Abigail- and he went up to the counter to get them.  
"So, what's it like being back in Haven? Nathan tells me the last time you were here, the Troubles were back, right?" asked Audrey.  
Abigail admired her attempt at conversing but winced at the reminder of her last visit, "Yeah, it's been a long time. A lot's changed."  
In a quick attempt to change the subject she asked, "How's it been working with Nathan? He said you arrived not long after I left?"  
Audrey nodded and laughed, "It's been a rollercoaster, that's for sure. But he's been a good friend to me, they both have." She indicated to the two men chatting at the bar.  
Abigail smiled, "They're great guys..."

Audrey eyed Abigail as she spoke, "Did something happen between you and Duke? I-I don't mean to pry but you seem a little uneasy sitting here and you haven't looked at him since we got here."  
Abigail chuckled, "You really are a cop, aren't you?"  
Audrey blushed but still waited for an answer.  
Abigail sighed, this woman clearly wasn't going to let it go without a reply,  
"We used to be really close, Duke and me. We went to the same school, lived right around the corner from one another...but having lived in Haven my whole life, I really should have known better; when the Troubles come, no one's safe..." Abigail hugged her jacket, tightening it around her body.  
The memories, even know, still haunted her.

"My Trouble came after my dad died. He was out on his fishing boat when a storm hit. I was eighteen at the time so social services decided I could live alone. After a while I started seeing things..."  
Audrey frowned at the pained expression on Abigail's face, "Things that weren't supposed to be there."  
She took a deep breath, "Some people got hurt and so I decided that leaving would be safer for everyone."  
Audrey raised an eyebrow at the abrupt, vague ending but decided to leave it at that for the minute as Nathan came back with the drinks.

Within a second, Abigail had downed the whiskey in one frantic gulp.  
"Whoa, slow down there Mighty Mouse or else you'll be upchucking all over that nice new carpet of yours."  
Abigail smiled at Nathan but it didn't quite reach her eyes as an awkward silence fell upon their table.  
"So, what have you been talking about?" asked Nathan.  
Audrey shrugged, "You mostly."  
She nodded subtly to Abigail, an action which stated: 'I won't tell if you don't.'  
Abigail smiled and looked to Nathan, a little more relaxed than before, "Yeah, we were just discussion that one time in first grade when you thought you were Superman and tried to fly off Mr Kesler's oak tree."  
Nathan laughed and so did Audrey.  
He shook his head, "I remember that! I ended up with a broken nose and a bruised ego."

After a while, Abigail was making jokes and they were all swapping stories.  
Well, until Duke's shift was over and he decided to join them.  
Two whiskey glasses thumped onto the table beside Abigail and one of them skidded halfway across the table until it hit her arm. "On the house."  
She looked up to see Duke pull a chair over. "Thanks."  
He smirked, flipped the chair around and sat like a cowboy, taking a swig from his own glass. "'Least I could do for the girl that got me shot."  
The silence that swept throughout the room could have been carved with cheese-wire.

Then Audrey realised: _That's why she left Haven._


	5. Insomniacs Are Us

Abigail could do nothing but sit and glare at him – even if she wanted to bash him over the head with the whiskey glass-.  
Nathan and Audrey glanced at each other awkwardly as Duke continued to smile and look to Abigail.  
"You had to bring that up, didn't you?" she growled, "Just couldn't help yourself."  
Duke shook his head, "Well, having to get a bullet torn from your chest can be a pretty memorable experience, you know."  
"Dammit Duke!" Abigail kicked her chair away from her at looked to the two people before her, "It was nice meeting you Audrey. I'll see you later Nathan."  
She stormed out of the Grey Gull with nothing but a shadow following her.

-  
When she left, Nathan turned to Duke, "What the hell was that?"  
He shrugged, "What? She disappeared for almost eight years, Nathan! You expect everything to just go back to the way it was in high school? Are you kidding?"  
Nathan stared at him, "There was no need to go that far, Duke, you know that."  
Duke shook his head, "Trust me Nathan, there was a need for it."  
He got up, returned his chair to its original position and left Audrey and Nathan sitting alone, slamming the back-room's door behind him.

-  
Abigail pushed the front door closed and fell against it. She almost screamed in frustration._ He always has to ruin it!_  
She glanced at the watch on her wrist, it was only nine thirty so, in a desperate attempt to keep herself from throwing stuff at the newly painted walls, Abigail decided to finish unpacking everything that was still contained within the cardboard boxes.  
Several hours later, she glanced at her watch again and smiled; one o'clock in the morning. Time to get some sleep.

Sleep however, seemed to elude her as she tossed and turned on the small sleeping bag that lay in the middle of her living room floor. Apparently, the exciting events of seven hours ago had not thought to slow down as they raced across her brain.  
Abigail could feel herself becoming angry again so she threw the sleep bag away from her, picked up a book from the rather tall collection that had accumulated in the corner of the room and began to read.

Just a few hours later, Abigail was woken from would could easily have been the worst sleep she had ever had to the sound of the front doorbell ringing.  
She groaned and, in a vest and shorts, opened the door.  
Nathan was standing with a box of doughnuts and two cups of coffee, "You look like hell."  
She smiled sarcastically, "Good morning to you to."  
He walked past her and headed for the kitchen, "I thought you'd want to head down to the Herald and see if Vince and Dave have anything for you so I brought some caffeine to waken you up a bit."  
He proceeded to takes plates from the cupboard and place a doughnut on each. He handed one to her and she thanked him. "So, how did the night go without me?"  
Abigail knew one of them would have had to bring it up and some point. She figured her emotional response wouldn't kick in due to her sleep-deprived state so she brought it up first.  
Nathan blushed, "Uh, fine. We didn't stay long after you left."  
She looked at him, "Congratulations Chief!"  
He blinked, "What?"  
She laughed, "You got laid! And you're wearing the same suit you wore last night!"  
Nathan blushed again and bit into his doughnut.  
"Good for you Nathan." grinned Abigail.  
He laughed uncomfortably, rubbing his neck with his left hand. "Go get dressed Abby."  
She smiled and did as she was told.

Twenty minutes later, Abigail and Nathan were parked outside the Haven Herald. Nathan was red-faced and Abigail had tears of laughter flowing from her eyes.  
She got out of the car and Nathan followed as they both headed for the office doors.  
Two old men were sitting at opposite sides of the small room, both hard at work silent as the pair entered.  
They both glanced up from their desks as the tiny bell hanging from the door gave a soft tinkle.  
Vince was the first to speak, "Well, Miss Colton! We were beginning to think you weren't going to drop by."  
She beamed that the pair of them, "Oh, that would never happen Vince!"  
She laughed and hugged him, turning to Dave who nodded in her direction, "Nice to see you again Abby. Based on recent speculation, we weren't even certain you were coming back."  
Abigail looked at him, "And from which source would you have acquired this information, Dave?"  
He avoided her gaze and made a waving gesture, "It doesn't matter anyhow. What matters is that you're here. Now, we've got plenty of work for you to be doing."  
"How did you know I was looking for a job?" she asked him.  
Vince shrugged, "Anyone who comes here is usually either looking for information or a job. We figured, seeing as how you just got back, you'd be looking for a source of income."  
Abigail nodded, "Well, thank you."  
She looked to Nathan, "I'll see you later?"  
He grinned, "Definitely."


	6. Haven Police Department

At five o'clock in the evening, Abigail had finished filing all of Vince and Dave's old papers in order of date and had even been able to get some work done in helping them with this week's paper.  
They let her leave for the day with the promise of a job for as long as she needed it.  
Having phoned Nathan at lunchtime, she waited for him to arrive in his car to pick her up. She had told him she had two legs upon which to walk home but he was insistent on driving so she let him.

The car rolled up at approximately quarter past 5 and Nathan had a rather grim expression on his face.  
She got into the passenger seat and he frowned, "I'll leave you off at home but I can't stay. There's a report I need to finish for a case we just closed so I told Audrey I'd stay in and get it done."  
Abigail shrugged, "I don't mind coming with you, it's not like I have anything to do at home. Besides, someone needs to make sure you're actually going to do some work."  
He laughed and drove them both back to the police station.

The building hadn't changed since the last time she'd been there (a simple misunderstanding, of course) and even some of the old officers were still there as well.  
It was like she hadn't even left Haven.  
But of course she had; Duke's statement last night was a blatant example of that.  
Nathan led Abigail through the building to the main office, in which, at the very end of the hall, was the Sheriff's office. _Nathan's office._  
Most of the men had gone home by now but some still stuck around to do exactly what Nathan was doing; writing reports and filling out forms.  
Abigail sat down on the leather couch inside Nathan's office, got a magazine from the coffee table beside her and began to read.  
The magazine was of little interest but it kept her occupied for five minutes or so.

"Do you mind if I take a look around?" she asked him.  
Nathan was hidden by the stacks of paper and folders on his desk but she heard a voice call, "Yeah sure, so long as you don't get lost."  
She smiled and headed out into the main office. She took the first right and strolled down the corridor, humming Florence and the Machine as she did so.  
A few metres along the corridor, there was a brown door marked 'Confiscations'. She glanced quickly at the label and walked on.  
Within around fifteen minutes of touring, a loud voice echoed throughout the red-bricked structure. "Officer, come on. This is harassment, I could press charges!"  
Abigail sighed at the familiarity of that voice as the officer replied, "Sit your ass down Crocker or you'll be spending the night in lock-up, _again._"

Reluctantly, Abigail headed back to the main office.  
As soon as Duke saw her he called, "Ah, if it isn't my favourite person in the world! Come to see me get thrown in a cell? Why am I not surprised?"  
She glared at him, "For your information Crocker, I came with Nathan. If I had known you were coming I wouldn't be here, _trust me_."  
"Trust you?" he said, "Not a mistake I'll be likely to make again."  
"Would you stop? You're pissed, I get it alright?" she replied.  
He looked at her, shuffling in his seat as the handcuffs clinked against the steel table.  
Abigail took a deep breath and pulled a seat around beside him.  
"I get that you're angry, I would be too. Hell, I still hate myself for what I did." she gazed at him for a second or two, "I left because I had to."  
Duke was about to argue but she cut in before him, "Duke, believe me, I never would have left Haven if it wasn't safer for all of us."  
He heaved a sigh as Nathan cautiously came out of his office, curious to see what was happening. "Everything okay?"  
Abigail nodded as the arresting officer came back to his desk and looked to Duke, "Yeah, I think we will be."


End file.
